I’m writing this on the 15th of January, on what seems like the first quiet day since we started the season out here. The day after we celebrated Cate’s birthday we waved goodbye to Ros and Godric, and started the long drive back to England. We stopped in the beautiful medieval town of Troyes for the night: admiring their Christmas lights and enjoying a lovely meal.
Christmas was spent with family: Dad cooked up a fine Christmas feast and on Boxing Day the whole family (Cate and Me, Dad, Lucy and Wilton, Alice, James, Richard and Juliette, Victoria and Christopher) met up for a country walk to be followed by another big meal at Lucy’s. The weight we had both lost when we had been painting and decorating was rapidly being replenished!
We spent the next few days in London, with Cate taking the train up to visit her Mum in Derby, before her brother, David, came down to London for another (belated) Christmas celebration.
Martin and Anne invited us to join them for New Year at their home on Dartmoor – plenty of wine and Champagne consumed whilst dancing to our favourite tracks from the 80s! Just a couple of days later (once we had recovered from the partying) we drove back to Ste Foy where the social life continued…
First up, and arriving the very next day after our return, we were delighted to entertain Anna and Alex, retired anaesthetists and friends we have known since we were lowly anaesthetic trainees in Plymouth. They spent a week with us, generously supplying us with wine and cooking a fine roast lamb dinner. They now spend the summers on board their catamaran in the Med, and have previously crossed the Atlantic, so we picked their brains for sailing tips for an Atlantic crossing and subsequent cruising in the Caribbean. Anna and Alex left us on the 12th, only to be replaced by my brother, Richard, with a friend of his (Martin). They just had a three day skiing trip, so made the most of it with the first day in Les Arcs, the second in Val d’Isère and Tignes, and the last day in Ste Foy. It had been snowing pretty heavily for a day or two before they arrived and continued to snow during their stay, so we had some great conditions. Arriving at the top of the Bellevarde we were lucky to hit the slopes just as the clouds had cleared and were amongst the first to ski the fresh powder – as the picture above (me standing proudly in front of my tracks!) shows.
Richard and Martin left this morning and we now have a few quiet days before our next set of guests arrive later next week. Dry January will have to be just a dry few days for us!
Can’t believe you made us have our photo taken with Foxy! Thanks for a fantastic few days skiing, food and company.